lightning streaks across the nation's capital tonight. earlier one golfer was hit. another bolt sparked a house

fire. good evening. i'm wendy rieger. jim, doreen are off tonight. the fst significant storms this month have been dangerous. light thing to high water. jackie benson with our report. >> the storms were not widespread, but they did cause a lot of trouble. a 42-year-old man was flown by helicopter to washington hospital center after a lightning strike on a bethesda golf c3rs0:0e 3:00 p.m. at congressional country club, 8500 river road. witnesses say the man was heading indoors to escape the storm at the time and was not directly struck by lightning. he was taken to suburban hospital by ambulance. he was conscious and breathing on his own when flown out a short time later. lightning is also believed to be the cause of a two-alarm house fire on owings glen way. a woman and her grandchild were inside escaped unharmed. but the blaze caused significance damage to the home. >> i came out. i saw the fire was blowing out

of the -- the roof. and it was getting very close to my house. that's when i was look telling the police, hurry up. you need to get here. because the fire is getting more and more. >> in virginia, heavy rain caused flooding on route 110 ar the pentagon. slowing traffic to a crawl as drivers negotiated water that was hubcap high in places. and in the district, flooding in the tunnel underscott circumstanunderscott -- under scott circle. blocked storm drains were cleared. in addition to tree limbs down. there were numerous car accidents. caused by wet roads. jackie benson. news 4. >> another line of storm is now passing through the area. bob is in the storm center. how does it look, bob? >> stormy night. things are settling near washington. want few show you lying thing. for you folks in charles county. southern prince george's county. the hot spots now. right now around the washington area, things have settled down a

little bit. there is the area of rain that continues to move into prince george's county. the very heaviest right now is heading towards of all places waldorf, la plata, as we go through e night all moving through the big storminess is up in new england. after an hour. thunderstorms ending tomorrow. we'll be back to sunshine and summery weekend coming up. tell you about that. no warnings out. pocket of intense lightning moving through the county. >> one month after the deadliest crash in metro history, the federal government is stepping inn in. a new bill going to set standard. one mandate installing black boxes like those on airplanes. news of the federal bill comes as ntsb reported that metro circuits in the area of last month's crash have been malfunctioning. derek ward has more. >> ever since the ntsb

investigation, into met ro metr crash began. soon as it was available. today we got a batch of information. latest from ntsb, sensory system that detects and wreregulates spacing between trains is a year and a half since the crash. general managers sought to assure the public. >> we have not found any failures, we are going through the wreckage to ensure there were no failures during that period of time. if we find that there were any cases where we failed to detect the train you will hear this from us. >> metro significantly increased the number of times data from the review. used to do it once a month. now twice a day. congress is getting more involved. legislation introduced that would establish federal standards.

>> part of it is having vehicles that can with stand crashes better than the older vehicles. some of it is the black box. we know what happens. and in the event of a collision. awe the cause of last month's crash yet to be determined. cautionary delays are common place and accepted by some riders but another rider is not so comfortable. >> all the money on metro. they should be doing their job. everything running smoothly. >> the ntsb requested that metro make data available to show that those fluctuations in the track sensors were reported and how they were dealt with. meanwhile, congress wants to speed up the money that has been coming to metro for years. and they want to put it on the fast track. derek ward, news 4. >> congress is not going to meet president obama's deadline for health care reform. senate majority leader, harry reed delivered the official word of the delay today. he said slowing down may actually be wise for now.

the president wants congress to act before the august recess. traveling in ohio this afternoon. mr. obama said he is okay with the delay as long as work does continue. the president told the crowd he hopes congress will act before the end of the year now. some very encouraging news about the housing market of all things. sales of existg homes rose for the third month in a row in june. that hasn't happened since 2004 during the housing boom. sales rose 3.6%. highest level since last to beoc r. r.octh ee median sales price ,0 $7,000 from may. er mbnuf o foreclosures market shra.nk experts say this may be a sign that the housing market is finally turned the corner. that news helped propel the dow to its highest level since november. it gainedintspo.. inpo. clos atabove,t a 9,069.9,069. above 9,000. first time since january 6th. thehethig hst close since l ig a week of upbebe earnings

reports and forecasts from companies like intel and caterpillar also helped push stocks higher. tomorrow, the federal minimum wage is going to increase by 70 cents. increase will be seen in 30 states. includes virginia and maryland. 20 states already have higher statewide minimum wages. critics say the hike could cause layoffs in small businesses. advocates say it will lead to higher consumer spending. there is news about virginia native michael vick's return to th nfl. dan is here with the developments. >> lot of people have been waiting a long time to hear this news. according to espn, the nfl will reinstate michael vick but he won't be able to play regular season games right away. vick will reportedly be suspended for the first four regular season games. what will be able to participate in training camp. vick was hoping for no suspension after serving 23 months in prison. not long ago, michael vick was

the highest paid player in the nfl. now looking for a team to give him a second chance. vick reportedly met with roger goodel and decision from the league is expected some time next week. vick is 29 years old. so he still has a lot of good football years left. the question is which nfl team will put up with the circus that comes with signing him. and if history is any indication. players suspended before have been allowed to play in pref a preseason games. >> suspended with this baggage? >> nobody has been suspended with this baggage. if they suspend allow him to play, get in game shape. waits a month. regular season. gets going. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> a quarterback in the news. ben roethlisberger speaks out about sexual assault allegations against him. corruption in new jersey, a dozen arrests and who's who of government officials. local store vandalized because

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an investigation into black market kidneys and counterfeit handbags. led to a sweeping corruption probe in new jersey. 40 people were arrested today including three mayors. and several rabbis. federal prosecutors say this investigation focused on a money laundering network that operated between the u.s. and israel. authorities say one of the suspects trafficked in black market human kidneys. >> lists of people we arrested sound look a roster for a meeting of community leaders. sadly they weren't meeting in a board room this morning. they were in the fbi booking room. >> the arrested include public officials from four counties. the fbi says, many officials are on tape taking cash payoffs. from an fbi corroborating

witness with a developer. a t-shirt that advocates gay rights may have prompted vandals to smash out a store window in silver spring. the vandalism happened at american apparel store on colesville road this week. the t-shirt bears the word legalized gay. and repeal prop 8 now. that refers to the california measure that bans same sex marriage. a store spokesperson there says there have been threatening phone people upset. breaking news out of maryland tonight. authorities are responding to a confirmed helicopter crash on icht-70. i-70 is now closed because of this crash. the chopper went down at mile marker 37. i-70. east. no word on injuries. what kind of chopper it was or what it was doing in the area. still to come. we saw some heavy rain.

lots of lightning. how about the weekend. bob is up next. the officer who arrested the harvard professor and attracted the president's harsh comments is speaking out.inatmpgches e yemeras winchlog employees to if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs

and stop denials for pre-existing conditions.

the white police sergeant criticized by president obama for arresting a black professor said he did nothing wrong. henry gates jr. was arrested after a robber reported a suspected break in at the scholar's house. the arresting officer, sergeant james crowly is a police academy expert on racial profiling. president obama criticized the incident when asked about it at last night's news conference. >> i think it is fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry, number two, that the cambridge police acted

stupidly. >> as he himself said at the beginning of the press conference he didn't know all the facts and he doesn't based on the comments. >> the president stands by his comments this afternoon. cambridge's police chief said he is creating an independent panel to review the incident. ben roethlisberger says sexual assault allegations against him are reckless and false. >> saturday was the first i learned of her accusations. her false and vicious allegations or attack on my family and on me. i would never, ever, force myself on a woman. >> a civil lawsuit accuses roethlisberger of sexually assaulting a casino hostess last year. the suit accuses hotel officials of working with roethlisberger to cover up the assault, alleged assault. a church in new york was filled to capacity today. as mourners said their good-byes to walter cronkite. the legendary newsman was widely considered to be the premiere tv

journalist of his time. he was also remembered today as a great sailor, father, and friend. michelle franzen has our report. >> friend, colleagues fans of walter cronkite gathered for his funeral service at saint bartholomeaw's. the episcopal church was a place where cronkite and his family worshipped over the decade. one of the first to speak, andy rooney, long time friend and fellow cbs newsman, who met cronkite in london. >> you get to know someone pretty well in a war. >> but he was too emotional to continue. >> he has been such a good friend over the years. please excuse me. thank you. >> and cronkite's son, chip, remembered the man known as dad, who just happened to be the most trusted man in america. >> i loved my dad.

i loved him coming home for dinner, so we could talk about that night's program. i loved riding my bike to meet him in the summer when he drove home to the country use. >> there were also moments that marked cronkite's lighter side, and his love of jazz music. >> a final and fitting note for ll esfut.anede to tif llfuest. michelle franzen, news 4. we had a wild night. still having it. >> we are. boy. complaining about rain. some spots got more than an inch. spread it out. outside. first of all when we had the first batch come through. beautiful rainbow. our, sky watcher got that. and -- our own tommy running on the tape. next batch coming through. fair all. lightning. our temperature outside has gone

down from high 80s now to 71. 71 degrees. officially now we have had a half inch of rain. more than combined for the month. still the most since over a month ago. look at our temperature right here. 72 degrees. 60s to our west. this is an area of ripples. and wild air. here is the last batch now coming through, you folks i mentioned earlier in to charles county. now really getting that area of lightning. you can seeeading into waldorf. la platta. not severe. diminishing. nonetheless. comes through with a fair all. heavy rains too. to our north. there has been some finally a bit of rain. probably, quarter to half inch. that is the most for the month. many, many lawns.

really parched. done to la platta. hughesville. spots like that. that is the last batch coming through. after that. ocean city. heading to the beaches. think it will be great. .400 inch. and the upcoming weekend. about an inch for the month. overnight tonight. we go through the remainder of the night. will begin to clear out. there will be quite an area of storminess in new england. and matter of fact. coastal flood watches are out. temperatures tomorrow will be back into the 80s. but at least, most all areas, filly did get needed rain.

>> i think there will be a fair amount of sunshine. could ben afternoon thunderstorm pop up. not as widespread as today. saturday, a lot of sunshine. temperatures near 90 degrees. late sunday, there could be an afternoon thunderstorm. hey, it is july. but overall, the weekend. i think still looks fine. next week, we'll be seeing temperatures in the high 80s to near 90 degrees. as we get ready. for august. almost here. that rain was really, really nice. >> yeah, really was. not the lightning, but the rain. >> thanks, bob. >> still ahead. everybody out of the water. not for a shark. how about an alligator.

õ

a lot of rain at the ballpark. >> it may have saved the nationals from a loss. at least for, at least for now. there you go. >> lot of good reasons for rain. trying to come back for their third straight win. two rain delays totaling 2 1/2 hours. the game is expected to resume shortly. serves up the fastball. solo home run. and sixth home run of the season. here comes the rain. 1:15 delay. grounds crew working quick.

pitching to joe thurston. paints the right field line. barely a fair ball. cardinals take a 3-0 lead. not too long after that, the fans are literally running for cover because the rains came again. the game is not quite official. in the seventh. they're expected to take the field shortly. afternoon game. white sox. rays turned into an historical event. mark burhle, 18th perfect game in major league history. facing capler. takes one in the left field. and tracking. look how fast he is going. hold up a bit at the wall. and makes potentially the game saving catch. one of the best catches. put in the game.

defensive replacement. and it certainly paid dividends. socks fans loving it. thank you very much. one more outright here. and grounds one to short. ramirez. hauls it in. goes over to first. 5-0. the big day. and meanwhile across the pond. coach funk in first place. after day one of the senior british open. pretty good day for him. birdied five of the last eight holes. here is watson. feeling comfortable across the pond. five british opens. and trying to win the senior version. and shoots 3 under 67. three shots behind the leader. here is the native and former golf coach. fred funk. chipping in from the sand. that is sweet.

the wizards g the front court depth they have been looking for. alberto afred to sign with washington. 11 games. after an up and down first half of the season. the mystics will head into an all-star break. they beat chicago to get to 8-7 on the year. how about maryland's coach. played serious defense. getting fouled as well. four steals in the game. actually ranked third in the wnba in steals. mystics up by six. throwing it up. at the buzzer. 15 points. and the mystics win it 75-64.

got to like the buzzer beaters. >> love those. thanks, dan. still to come. surveillance cameras making sure the employees are smiling.

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the reptile wandered over to a residential area where they captured him. and he is probably thinking where the heck am i? the gator will be let go in a safer, less inhabited place. wondering if they like salt water. cnbc out with a list of top states for business. virginia grabbed top honors second time in three years. virginia given top marks for quality of work force, the cost of doing business and support for innovation. cnbc also cited virginia's reasonable tax rates. despite the recession since january of 2008, virginia attracted $6.5 billion in investment and created more than 30,000 new jobs. (announcer) illness doesn't care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care.

if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition" become a thing of the past... we're america's health insurance companies. supporting bipartisan reform that congress can build on.

japanese railway workers have to smile because the jobs depend on it. they installed a smile detector to keep track of how much they're smiling. the device detect how wide your smile is by looking at the curve of your mouth. employees are encouraged to test their grins before they head out to help passengers. that's our broadca [ cheers and applause ]